Landscaping

In my Landscaping newsletter I've been posing a question to my readers recently: namely, "What are your favorite plants?" Reader, Amy told us about her favorite plant, answered a few questions about it, and included photos. I'm making her the "Featured Reader" for today. Amy's favorite: arctic kiwi.

Would you like to be the Featured Reader someday? All you need is a camera and a keyboard. You can make your submission using this form.

Arctic kiwi is a variegated plant, but in this case, "variegated" is something of an understatement. The foliage can bear not two but three colors, displaying pink, white and green. Nor is "white" a sufficient adjective to describe the light color in this trio: Lots of variegated plants have white in their foliage, but the white in arctic kiwi vines is more aptly termed "frosty."

In fact, the first time you see arctic kiwi in full color, you'll do a double-take and ask yourself, "Is that white color natural or sprayed on?" It's during the spring that arctic kiwi puts on its peak foliage display. That's right, I said "spring." Peak foliage season for trees such as maple trees occurs in fall, but, in an interesting reversal, arctic kiwi's prime time is at the beginning of the growing season.

More: What's the Difference Between Climbers and Creepers?

_{Photo ©2009 David Beaulieu, Landscaping Guide (licensed to About, Inc.)}

Yellow archangel goes by the rather ponderous botanical name of Lamium galeobdolon or, alternatively, the even more ponderous Lamiastrum galeobdolon. The species name, galeobdolon isn't exactly melodious: It sounds rather like the noises your sink makes when it's draining....

Fortunately, the yellow archangel is a lot prettier than its name sounds. This is also a plant that can take quite a bit of shade. That's why it's too bad it's an invasive plant in some areas.

As is so often the case, the Pacific Northwest is a region that feels the invasive sting of the plant most keenly. You Pacific Northwesterners have my sympathy: If a plant has any invasive potential whatsoever, then it seems like that potential will be realized in your region!

Although, I have to tell you, my sympathy for you is limited. You can grow all sorts of plants that I can't grow in New England. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

_{Photo ©2010 David Beaulieu (licensed to About, Inc.)}

Experienced gardeners are well aware of the fact that some plants are more work than others. And sometimes, that's OK. After all, if you love plants, it's enjoyable to go out into the yard and work around them. But not all work is created equal; here's what I mean:

Some plants require work the need for which practically announces itself. For example, it's a good idea to deadhead many plants known for their showy blossoms. And I usually have no trouble remembering to perform this task, because the plants in question conveniently "ask" you for such help. Quite simply, it's time to deadhead them when their blooms start to go by. What could be simpler?

On the other hand, there are other plants who are much shier about what their needs are. Take Flamingo Japanese willow (Salix integra 'Flamingo'), for example (my picture here shows what the catkin looks like). In order for you to admire that pinkish hue from which its colorful name derives, you will have had to prune it while still dormant. Problem is, I, too am often still "dormant" during that period of the year, resulting in my forgetting to prune my Flamingo Japanese willow. By the time the shrub starts putting on growth in spring, it's too late -- and I tell myself that, next year, I'll remember to prune at the right time (yeah, right!).

Put in your 2 cents: What Are Your Favorite Plants?

_{Photo ©2010 David Beaulieu, Landscaping Guide (licensed to About, Inc.)}

Different people use the backyard in radically different ways. Here are some of the possible purposes to which the backyard may be put that come to mind immediately:

• For hosting parties
• As a play area for your kids
• As an outdoor home for a pet
• As an outdoor dining area
• For physical activities ranging from swimming to tennis
• For vegetable gardens
• For ornamental gardens
• As a secluded refuge from the hubbub of the outside world

Of course, these purposes aren't mutually exclusive: A backyard that functions as a secluded refuge usually contains ornamental gardens, as well. But you get the picture: backyard landscaping is necessarily a diverse subject, because people use their backyards in so many different ways.

In this article on backyard landscaping, I take that diversity into account, presenting a variety of options for backyard landscaping ranging from outdoor kitchens (photo) to meditation gardens. Who knows, if the role of the super-sociable host really turns you on, you may even furnish your outdoor kitchen with a bar....

Then again, if you'll be using your backyard primarily as a retreat so secluded that it would make a hermit proud, you, too may want a bottle or two handy. That's one way to take the edge off after a hard day at work!

Tell us about your: Favorite Plants

_{Photo ©2010 P.O.P.S. Landscaping}

If you had told me a few years ago that someday I'd be spending as much time on social media as I do now, I would have laughed at you. But many of my readers find it convenient to be able to follow my landscaping observations via social media, so I've given in to technological change. I'm all over social media now. And why not? Heck, people even carve pumpkins in honor of Facebook now (picture).

It started with Twitter. I'm something of a minimalist, so Twitter's spare design attracted me more than Facebook's initially. But I eventually became more comfortable with Facebook and began spending a decent amount of time there.

Google+ and Pinterest came along later. The former strikes me as a bit clunky (and as overkill if you're already on Facebook) but generates author pictures in search engine results, which is a nice personal touch. Meanwhile, Pinterest is a wonderful medium for a subject such as landscaping, which is very visually oriented.

Do you enjoy receiving information via Facebook? Then you may find it helpful to be able to keep track of my activity there. So have a look at my Facebook page. If you like it, Like it (those of you who understand Facebook speak will know I'm not being repetitive in saying that), and please add me as a friend.

_{Photo ©2012 David Beaulieu, Landscaping Guide (licensed to About, Inc.)}

There's a good chance that you disagree with your significant other over this or that, occasionally (for some of you, that might be the understatement of the year!). Sometimes, the bone of contention between you may pertain to landscaping, specifically. Examples of landscaping issues that couples may disagree over include:

• Whether or not to have a big lawn
• How often to mow that lawn, and who will mow it
• What types of shrubs to plant
• How often or how drastically to prune those shrubs
• Whether or not you need a fence
• What style that fence should be
• Whether or not to have a pool
• Who should clean that pool

How about you? Do you have disagreements over landscaping with your significant other? Click the link above to let us know. Feel free to vent: your secret is safe with us (unless you use your real name, of course!).

_{Photo ©2012 David Beaulieu, Landscaping Guide (licensed to About, Inc.)}

Novices may know "aster" as a term that designates a favorite flower valued for the fall color it provides. But it is also the name of a family of flowers -- a huge family!

So don't just think of flowers such as the famous New England aster when you hear the name. As with any large family, the Aster family is diverse, not only in terms of appearance, but also regarding usage. Nor should it be surprising that this family has its share of problem children. But "aster" derives from the Greek, astra, meaning "star"; and this is truly a star-studded family, featuring the likes of such cheerful flowers as black-eyed susans.

Here is just a brief sampling of plants in the Aster family:

• Ageratum
• Yarrow
• Goldenrod
• Tansy
• Joe-Pye weed

Familiarity breeds contempt, and the ubiquitousness of Ageratum renders it contemptible in the eyes of gardening snobs. But there is a reason this short, blue-flowered plant is sold in masses across America: it's a great choice for the blue part of the red-white-blue color combination that Americans use in Memorial Day and Independence Day plantings.

The botanical name for yarrow flowers is Achillea. Are you thinking that this name sounds like it has something to do with Greek mythology? You are correct. It's named after the warrior, Achilles. Yarrow was known to have the medicinal property of being able to staunch blood -- a property of obvious utility to a warrior.

Yarrow was not alone in this regard. Goldenrod shares this medicinal usage with it. Nowadays, it's valued more for the beauty it affords in fall. A downside in growing goldenrod is that it spreads aggressively. But I offer some tips in my article for keeping it in check.

In my article on tansy, I discuss how this medicinal plant, like Achillea, enjoys a mythological connection. But like goldenrod, tansy is an aggressive spreader. And as is the case with many medicinal herbs, tansy is (somewhat counter-intuitively) a poisonous plant. You have to know what you're doing to mess with some of these "medicinal" plants!

Joe-Pye weed is another medicinal plant of the Aster family. Why does it bear this funny name? Joe Pye, was a famous Indian herb doctor of colonial times in Massachusetts. Although a "weed," some gardening connoisseurs (including overseas admirers) find this tall, graceful specimen a useful landscape plant.

Against the grain: What common weeds do you consider beneficial?

_{Photo ©2011 David Beaulieu (licensed to About, Inc.)}

Do you pick your plants or do they pick you? It's a little of both, really.

Oh sure, you're the one that drives to the garden center, where you "ooh" and "ah" at the specimens that impress you. And you're the one who shells out the money, loads the plants in the car and brings them home for planting.

But if you're a smart gardener, you know it's not really all about you and what you want. Realizing that plants come with different requirements, you undertake the process of plant selection keenly in-tune with what the plants want, too. Because no matter how splendid a plant looks at the garden center, if it's not going to be happy in the spot you've chosen for it in your yard, then you're not going to be happy, either.

Follow the links in my guide to plant selection for information on the requirements of the particular plants that catch your eye. The resources in my Plant Selection article will not only help you pick your plants, they'll also help your plants pick you!

What's Your Favorite Plant?

Get My Twitter Updates

Follow Me on Facebook

_{Photo ©2010 David Beaulieu (licensed to About, Inc.)}

As a baseball fan, I sometimes have mixed feelings about a game that my team is winning by a lopsided margin. One side of me revels in the joys of the moment, but the other side of me wishes that we could somehow "save some of those runs" for the next game, when every run might well turn out to be precious.

I have similar feelings about May in the landscape. May is a "blowout" month for floral display in my yard. And while I'm enjoying every moment of it, I can't help but wish that I could somehow save up a bit of this floral abundance, turning it loose at some future time of my own choosing.

In fact, I have so many May "stars of the yard" to report on that I'm going to hold back on telling you about a few of them: they'll still be blooming in June, so I'll include them in my report for that month, instead. Two more plants that I'm withholding from my list -- because they are too difficult to control -- but that are contributing to the smorgasbord of the senses that is my landscape right now are bugleweed and lily-of-the-valley.

But without further ado, here are my stars for May:

• Hawthorn
• Sweet woodruff
• Candytuft
• Kwanzan cherry
• Columbine
• Kiwi vine
• Lilacs
• Flowering dogwood
• Stewartstonian azalea
• Daphne
• Golden Oriole azalea
• Korean spice viburnum
• Doublefile viburnum
• Kerria
• Jack-in-the-pulpit
• Jacob's ladder
• Yellow alyssum
• Flowering quince

How about you? Vote in my poll and let us know what plants are shining most brightly in your own yard right now.

Some plants are an acquired taste. Their small stature and toned-down colors aren't inherently exciting. They will never be appreciated by those who crave only bold plants that scream out, "Notice me!" If it's bold you want (and there's nothing wrong with that), try Fritillaria imperialis, commonly known as "crown imperial."

When mentioning above how some plants are an acquired taste and won't excite those seeking "big and bold," I had a particular experience from my distant past in mind. At the time I had just discovered Sempervivum tectorum and decided to share some with a fellow gardener. He didn't wish to hurt my feelings, but his unspoken reaction spoke volumes: He was thoroughly unimpressed.

I wouldn't have had that problem if I had given him crown imperial. It will never win any awards for its fragrance, but I doubt you'll ever catch anyone complaining that this big, orange-flowering bulb plant doesn't make a bold enough statement.

Read article: Crown Imperial

Get My Twitter Updates

Follow Me on Facebook

_{Photo ©2010 David Beaulieu (licensed to About, Inc.)}